Nic Few and Cassandra Freeman star as Kevin Durant and his mother, Wanda, in the Lifetime biopic "The Real MVP." Below: the real Kevin and Wanda.Lifetime

AP

Veteran actress Cassandra Freeman hopes to score a slam-dunk with her portrayal of Wanda Pratt — the mother of NBA superstar Kevin Durant and the subject of the upcoming Lifetime movie “The Real MVP: The Wanda Durant Story.”

Kevin Durant, the star power forward for the Oklahoma City Thunder, famously thanked Wanda in 2014 when he won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award — calling her “The real MVP” in his acceptance speech.

Durant’s speech went viral, amassing over 800,000 online hits, and also caught the interest of Queen Latifah, who produced “The Real MVP.”

“When I saw Kevin’s MVP speech I was like, ‘Here we go, another athlete speech,’ so I didn’t expect anything,” says Freeman. “But the connection that he had with his mother was so authentic. Who didn’t tear up?

“To see an athlete of that stature be so vulnerable was so genuine,” she says. “I loved that he said she is ‘The real MVP’ — that was life-changing.”

Wanda, who’s now a motivational speaker, worked for the post office in Washington, DC to make ends meet after her husband, Wayne, left the family. “The Real MVP,” portrays the mom — who had two children by the age of 21 — and her grueling daily routine of getting home from work in time to feed the kids breakfast and sending them off to school.

Wanda’s love, attention and sacrifices for her family paid off: Not only did Kevin thrive — he played basketball at the University of Texas before being drafted by Seattle (now Oklahoma City) in 2007 — but his brother, Tony, earned a college basketball scholarship.

“What attracted me to this film is that it is really a mother’s heroic journey of raising two babies by herself,” says Freeman. “She had her first child at 18. She was a struggling mother who wanted to raise successful kids despite the odds.”

(Wayne Durant re-entered the family’s life when Kevin was a teenager.)

Freeman also cites a turning point in Kevin Durant’s life: When his first basketball coach, Charles Craig, was gunned down at the age of 35 (the number Kevin wears on his jersey to honor Craig).

“Kevin starting playing [basketball] at the community center when he was like 7 years old and from that time, until he was around 17, he had this coach in his life,” she says.

“This movie is so universal because it tells about the significance of having family, faith and community to support you and your dream.” Freeman also says she found a lot to like about Wanda — and that they bonded upon meeting.

“I spent a day with Wanda and she said [that] from the moment she saw me, she liked my style,” she says. “She felt like I had a sense of joy, like her. Wanda feels everything. She is one of those people who cannot lie. You can see in her face how she feels about things — and I found that to be a fun challenge.”